THE PENALTY OF POVERTY. Extraordinary Case in England.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 128, 14 November 1885, Page 6

THE PENALTY OF POVERTY. Extraordinary Case in England.

The following report of a ca&e heard at Dartford Petty Sessions, before Mr C. S. Umfrieville (in the chair), Captain Palliser, and Mr J. Flower Jackson, is taken from " Dartford Express " : — George Field, a bricklayer, was summoned for non-payment of £1 2s, being arrears at the rate of Is per week, of an order of the Court made against him, in common with his brothers, for the maintenance of his father, an inmate of the Darfcford Union Workhouse. Mr McLeod, the relieving- officer, stated that the case had been adjourned two successive months, to enable the defendant to pay. Defendant : You know very well I have not the means to pay ; I want it settled one way or the other, and the sooner you send me to Maidstone Gaol again the better. The Chairman : If you go on in this way you will very soon find yourself there. Defendant: Why don't you send me to gaol at once ? When you have taken all my traps and left me penniless, with a wife and nine children, you could send me there for thirty-one days. The Chairman : Can you keep yoursel quiet ? Defendant : We are all Englishmen, ain't j we ? And law is law. I have been laid up i for nine weeks, and can I be quiet when I have had thirty-one days in Maidstone Gaol j for nothing ? The Chairman (emphatically) : If you are not quiet I shall certainly commit you, Defendant : If I don't open my mouth no ' one else will for me. Let me have what I ought to have— justice. The Chairman : If you don't be quiet you will have to suffer for it. Defendant : I have suffered once, and I can suffer again. You were all members of the Board of Guardians who sat on the bench and sent me to the Maidstone Gaol for thirty- one days : prosecutors and judges too. Do you call that justice? I may as well '"do" six months for nothing as thiry-one days for what I never owed. Mr McLeod : The case was adjourned in consequence of his being out of work. He went to work last Wednesday week, but his wife would not teR me where. She sent me 4s, but I told her I could not receive it, as the case was in the hands of the Court. Defendant : She went and borrowed 4s off her father to keep my father because she thought I should go to Maidstone Gaol. Mr McLeod : He has been at work since last Wednesday bricklaying, but his wife would not tell me what he has been earning. Defendant : I have made 105 hours since I was here, a month ago to-day, and have a wife and nine children to keep. . The Chairman : What does he earn ? Mr McLeod : He is a bricklayer, and earns 9d an hour. Defendant : When I can get it I can command 9d an hour as a mechanio, but if I can't get work what am Itodo ? There are

thousands of us starving. I would as lief be in Maidstone Gaol as out of it at the present time. You have had the case before you times out of number, and when I had not got a chair to sit upon you sent me to Maidstone Gaol for thirty-one days, and left my wife and nine children penniless, The Chairman : I have looked upon your case and dealt with it most leniently. When you were not able to pay it was ad journed for a month, then it was adjourned for a second month, and now you come here and behave yourself in this manner. I tell you, you are a disgrace to the class to which you belong. Defendant : 1 have £9 to pay for back rent. What am I to do ? I may just as well go to gaol. The Chairman : You behave yourself in such a way that I will send you to Maidstone Gaol for a month's hard labour. The Deputy-Clerk : Have you any questions to ask the relieving- officer ? Defendant : I have nothing more to say, only that I have a wife and nine children. The Chairman : You stand committed to Maidstone Gaol for a month, and the next time you come here I hope you will know how to behave yourself. You are a disgrace to your fellow men. Defendant : Why ? Because I speak the truth? Is that the reason why I am a disgrace ? The Chairman : Yes. The defendant was then removed in custody ; but some time after he again came before the magistrates, and, addressing the chairman, said :-What am I committed for ? I have a wife and nine children, and surely you are not going to take me away from them again ? The Chairman : You should have thought of that before, instead of behaving like a madman. As I have already told you, I have tried what I could to bring you to reason, and what have 1 got for it ?— the guardians abused, the law abused, and every person abused. As you have chosen to do this, and bring it upon yourself by your misconduct, you must bear the effect of it and go to prison. Defendant {in a beseeching tone) : But what for ? The Chairman : Never mind that ; you will go to Maidstone Gaol tor a month. If you had behaved reasonably you would not have had to go. Defendant : Are my family to starve for another thirty-one days after all that we have suffered ? The Chairman : I will have no more talk with you ; you are committed for a month. Defendant : And you call this English justice ? The Court then rose, and the defendant was removed in custody in the presence of his wife and daughter, who were crying bitterly. The Dartford Liberal Club held a meeting, at which a resolution was passed calling for his immediate release, andasimilarresolution was passed at a public meeting, at which a small subscription was got up for the destitute wife and children. Mr Chamberlain has forwarded £5 to the fund being laisedby the public for the man named George Field, who was fined by the Dartford magistrates for neglecting the support of his father. In the letter accompanying the remittance Mr Chamberlain says he has read with great indignation the proceedings, and says he cannot doubt that the Home Secretary will at once take steps to repair the injustice that has been done. In the meantime he encloses a cheque towards the support of his family.